MATURE THEME
Warriors center Chriss makes most of opportunity at career crossroads
Marquese Chriss took the news about as well as he could. After a loss to the Kings in January, he was informed by the Warriors he no longer had a job. The decision was made in Sacramento, a 30-minute drive from where Chriss grew up in Elk Grove. In limbo, he spent time with his family and wondered what was next.
“Talk about poor form, getting released in
your hometown,” coach Steve Kerr admitted this week.
The Warriors had waived Chriss to clear a path to place guard Damion Lee, then on a two-way contract, on the 15-man roster.
Chriss, already indoctrinated in “sports as a business,” knew this was a possibility.
But within a month, the Warriors brought Chriss back, first on a two-way contract and then to a regular roster spot. By the end of the season, he had emerged as the team’s most reliable center, starting in the final 18 games he played and posting career highs in points (9.3), rebounds (6.2), assists (1.9) and blocks (1.1) per game.
Tuesday night, Chriss, who is no longer
is worried about his position on the roster after solidifying his place in the NBA last season, returned to Sacramento for the Warriors’ second of three exhibition games in advance of next week’s season opener at Brooklyn.
He scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench in Sacramento’s 114-113 victory.
The teams play again tonight in Sacramento.
Kerr noted leading up to Tuesday’s game that Chriss “did a really good job last year of coming in and earning the position on the team. I think he’s got a long career ahead of him now.”
But Chriss will have more competition at the position this season.
Kevon Looney, returning from an injury-plagued year, started in the team’s preseason opener. James Wiseman, whom the Warriors selected with the second overall pick in the draft, will demand a look as the team’s long-term answer at the position.
Chriss, however, isn’t concerned about playing fewer minutes.
“We all want the same thing, which is for the team to win,” Chriss said. “We all bring a different aspect of the game that benefits our team and individual ways that are going to be needed throughout the season.”
This is a change in mindset for Chriss, who after being drafted eighth overall by the Phoenix Suns in
2016 was traded twice — to Houston and then Cleveland — and picked up a reputation for being difficult to coach along the way.
“Early on in my career, I can say now that I was immature in all aspects of life,” Chriss said. “I was a 19-year-old with money and not a lot of life experience. So there were things that I had to learn and things I had to go through in order to be in the position that I am today.”
Last year, he was nearly out of the league when Golden State invited him to training camp. His playmaking ability, athleticism and effort — aided by preseason injuries to Looney and second-round pick Alen Smailagic — helped Chriss earn a spot on the opening day roster.
Dur ing the sea son, Chriss signed four different contracts with the team as the Warriors navigated a rebuilding roster and a hard salary cap.
Despite other options being available after he was waived in January, Chriss knew that, if he could, he wanted to remain with the Warriors, an organization that had given him a chance and allowed him to blossom into a rotation player without expectations.
With the Warriors ending their preseason with two games near his hometown, his career has come full circle.
Now Chriss, who becomes a free agent after this season, bops around Chase Center with a smile on his face, knowing that this time next year, he won’t need a training camp invitation to keep his career alive.
“The NBA can be very
cold and I think he’s learned that,” Kerr said. “And he’s learned how to deal with that and how to function, which is to keep kicking. Keep working.”